Goodbyes aren't Forever
by SunRocket
Summary: J.T. Mcfadden's machine he dubbed Lazarus broke down the moment Kat and Casper had tried to save her late father Dr. James Harvey the night of October 31rst 1995. Since then Casper and his three Uncles had been trying to keep him company until the day of Kat's eighteenth birthday would hopefully change everything.
1. Chapter 1

Goodbyes aren't Forever

Ch.1

 _ **If I don't find what I'm looking for, it's over. No more moving, no more ghost mining.**_

 _ **You promise?**_

 _ **promise.**_

A promise Dr. James Harvey never meant to break.

He never meant to break the promise he made to his daughter, he never meant to hurt Kathleen, he never meant to do it, it was only an accident. It was an accident, he didn't mean it, he would never abandon his only child...

He was filled with a shameful regret.

An inconsolable grief had overtaken him.

His Earth-bound existence was regret for leaving this vale of tears before his own daughter.

His own child he sworn to look after.


	2. Chapter 2

**James Harvey's final recollection PT.1**

 **10/31/1995**

Ch.2

 _"Dad!" Kat said, choking out a sob. "daddy? Oh God, Dad! Dad what happened!" she screamed._

 _"I told ya not teh look," Stretch yelled. "and you looked," he growled out through clenched teeth. "this is what happens when you don't listen! Stupid kid, what the hell did you think was hiding under the bloody sheet we just carried in?"_

 _Kat let out a strangled whimper instead._

 _She had no prepared response._

 _"Sure ain't no invitation, dat's what," Stinky said, his lips curled into an smug arrogant smile. "dead bodies ain't like what you see on television," he crossed his arms against his chest. "death isn't a rosy pretty picture those fleshies down at Hollywood try selling you dat's fer sure."_

 _"And now he's worm chow," Fatso said, he gave a pleasant laugh._

 _"Doc got banged up pretty badly," Stretch said, quietly, with the roll of his shoulders. "dat spill he took snapped his neck." he paused a moment then turned to Dr. Harvey. "don't know if you remember or not but you didn't die one of dem painless deaths neither."_

 _"The Doc hung around for a few more minutes then he should have," Stinky admitted._

 _"And you didn't bother to call an ambulance!" Kat shouted, at the ghostly trio recovering her voice. "why didn't you try to help him!" she clenched her hands into weak fists. "how could you let him die like that! How could you do that to him!"_

 _"As I wuz saying the Doc wasn't gonna last much longer," Stretch said, his voice on the edge of anger. "he was writhing and crying, trying to rattle off his last words when we's found him laying at the bottom of dat trench!"_

 _"I can't believe I'm hearing this," Kat said, breathlessly. "I can't believe this!"_

 _"Kat, Kat, please calm down," James told her, unsure what else to say. "I'm still here!"_

 _"You're dead," Kat said, bitterly. "you died! How do you think I feel right now!" she coughed, clearing her throat. "first mom and now you! Why! Why?" a question not even her own father could answer._

 _Her eyes were wide, she stared at him, feeling a mixture of fear and worry._

 _Kat was only met with an apprehensive silence._

 _What could he possibly tell her now?_

 _Never had an honest conversation since Amelia passed away._

 _Never addressed the denial he felt when he began using parapsychology to try and block out the sadness that consumed his time and energies when he searched in vain for the spirit of his late wife either._

 _James never truly grieved Amelia's death as he should have done._

 _All he ever been telling Kathleen all these years was this kind of sugar-coated nonsense when he really should have_ _prepared Kat about the hard truths that came with losing a parent._

 _His obsession with finding the lost spirit of his beloved wife Amelia was anything but healthy._


	3. Chapter 3

**James Harvey's final recollection PT.2**

 **10/31/1995**

 _Ch.3_

 ** _Kat's POV_**

 _Kat settled herself near her father's corpse that was laid out the floor._

 _She was focused on spending the few minutes she had left with the body of the man she once known as her father before someone from the funeral home came to pick up his remains.  
_

 _She held James cold lifeless hand that fell out from the bloodied bed sheet._

 _Just because her father remained with her in spirit didn't mean his presence was the same when he was alive._

 _That was the whole difference between the living and the dead._

 _James was living his afterlife with a whole new set of rules that was laid out from his lack of resolution and Kat was aware she was the anchor that bound him to Earth._

 _But she wasn't about to let him cross over, she knew better than that._

 _As long as J.T. Mcfadden's machine existed, she could try and fix it. She couldn't try to now since she knew wasn't going to be living in Friendship, Maine much longer since both of her parents had died untimely deaths._

 _But when she was old enough to come back she would try to finish the work Casper's father started._

 _She'd figure out how to fix the machine and everything will be okay again._

 _It was the perfect plan._

 _Sure, she'd be an adult, but she'd be able to give Casper his second chance to live a normal childhood. Kat wouldn't date a twelve year old child, but she could help his three Uncles raise him, she'd still be able to be there for Casper and help him make friends his own age._

 _Her father James wouldn't look a day over thirty but at least he'd have his health._

 _It was a risky endeavor but she wasn't going to let go of that one slim chance of leaving Whipstaff Manor without knowing she might be able to help it's former residents._

 _She was determined._

* * *

 ** _Normal POV_**

 _"It's been nearly ten minutes and that kid of yours is still hanging around yer dead body," Stretch said, in a harsh whisper. "maybe you should go and talk to her or sumthing."_

 _James was standing near Stretch listening with rapt attention asked him. "I didn't know someone like you ever felt-"_

 _"Don't say it," Stretch said, raising his voice._

 _"Compassion," came James kind, soft answer._

 _James and Stretch exchanged surprised expressions._

 _"Kids shouldn't be near dead things," Stretch said, using reason this kind of situation permits. "knock sum sense into dat brat before I do." then breathed out a long depressing sigh. "save it for dat open casket funeral you'll be having a in few days."_

 _"Don't think it's the best idea to let her hang around dat corpse much longer either," Stinky said, jumping into the conversation. "closed casket would be the best bet," he was floating next to his brother Stretch offering his opinion. "I doubt any mortician would ever do a good job much less a great job at reconstructing the rest of James face."_

 _"Guys," James yelled. "guys, please!" he pleaded._

 _A soft chuckle rolled off his tongue. "It's not like she doesn't know," Stretch said, James could hear a hint of cheerfulness in his voice. "we're all friends here ain't we's?" his mood brightened. "dat daughter of yours knows what's up," he smiled. "We ain't hiding any dark, dirty secrets about what happens after people croak, she ain't dem stupid types of people, Doc."_

 _Stretch wasn't exactly wrong about his assumptions._

 _Kat was different which wasn't a bad thing._

 _J_ _ames gave her the best kind upbringing a child learning about the afterlife could have._

 _Fatso materialized next to James slapping his back. "and she owes all of that to her dad!"_

 _James jaw fell open in disbelief._

 _There was a sudden collective of high pitched shrieks that later melted into peals of laughter after the Mcfadden brothers realized Fatso left James breathless leaving all the air escape from his nonexistent lungs._

 _"Look at this guy," Stinky said, he was grinning. "he's gonna fit right in." he tussled James brown hair._

 _"Now he's got us to teach him the ropes," Fatso shouted._

 _The Mcfadden brothers bubbled with positivity now the trio finally became the ghostly quartet._ _James was one of them now, what part about his death made them upset? He wasn't that miserable dope of a therapist anymore._

 _He was the former Dr. James Harvey._

 _Ex-therapist._

 _Death had stripped him of this title indefinitely._

 _He was known as James Harvey to the Mcfadden brothers now._

 _He was James and that's all that mattered to them._


	4. Chapter 4

**Fast Forward**

 **Friendship, Maine**

Kat's Eighteenth Birthday

"No, dad it's okay," she insisted. "we don't need a birthday party. Nobody is celebrating my birthday and besides," Kat said ending her sentence with a pfft. "it was over since yesterday." she arrived by a greyhound that dropped her off the nearest bus stop.

Both of them were standing outside Whipstaff Manor.

Kat was breathing in the warm summer air.

"But your all grown up," James said, feeling a pang of remorse. "don't you want to spend some of that time enjoying your adulthood?"

"It's okay and besides," Kat said, she grinned. "I have work to do."

"Honey," James yelled. "you don't have to do this! Don't throw your life away to try and fix all of this! You spent enough time as it is romanticizing this pointless ideal! You have better things you should be doing with your life!"

"And what else do I have left?" Kat said, through gritted teeth. "you're dead, remember?" as if it wasn't hard enough to jog her own father's memories. "you are all that I have left! Nobody has helped me since your own family members forced me to leave with them after your funeral," she explained. "nobody, not one of them! My aunts. my uncles, not even my grandparents knew what was best for me since they took me away from you!" her eyes suddenly became glassy.

There was a shared silence between them that lasted for a few seconds.

"Live here," James said. "live with us. But please," he paused for a few seconds. "don't feel you should shoulder this burden. You shouldn't have to spend it trying to jumpstart an old invention."

"I'm doing it anyway," Kat said, she sniffled then wiped her nose. "you can't stop me from fixing that machine."

"Pick up a few community college courses instead," James said, in a rushed breathe. "get a part time job and work towards a degree."

It was pointless to discuss this problem with Kat. She picked up her duffel bag that was sitting beside her feet. Slung the strap over her shoulder then told him in a calm voice. "I'm going to **my** bedroom. I'm going back to **my** room and I'm not sure how long I'll stay there."

Then she left.

Kat walked into the manor leaving her father behind.

"You know, Doc," Stretch said, he materialized next to James. "if there's something I gotta say about all dis yer daughter may have a few screws loose," he surmised. "she's conspiring, that's just the kind of attitude someone who ain't gonna quit. She ain't gonna give up but I sure as hell am gonna try and knock sum sense into dat brat."

"We can try to stop her but I doubt she'll listen,"

To Stretch it was worth the shot.


	5. Chapter 5

Ch.5

Death was an attractive ideal.

It was a repeating thought that she constantly battled every morning. It offered hope, it was a sliver of happiness during her months spent raising herself inside her grandparents spare room they given her. They called it a bedroom. It wasn't much of a room. It was a temporary accommodation. It housed most of her sentimental items, keepsakes, pictures of her mother and father that kept her company. It mostly the memories she pored over. The memories she spent with Casper, his uncles, and her father James during that fateful month of October was the only memories that kept her sane.

A close approximation.

Those memories she preserved.

She fought to keep those memories until she was an adult. She made up her decision long ago that fixing McFadden's machine was a worthy endeavor. It was an endeavor that separated herself from the other teenagers. While most sixteen year olds were saving spare money for college tuition Kat was saving up for bus fare for a one trip ticket to Friendship, Maine. She needed enough money to survive the cross country trip. Food, medical supplies, and a spare change of clothes she would need to make the long journey back home.

Whipstaff Manor would always be her home.

Until her dying breathes.

So her reclusive behavior and her need to be spend time alone prevented her from forming new relationships. She used to blame not being able to form a genuine, close connection with another person on her father when he began searching for her mother's spirit Amelia. She used to blame it on him. Even during lunch period it's not like she ever bothered to establish relationships her acquaintances.

Those friendships never mattered, they never mattered as long as she was able to plot her great escape. Kat had always been plotting her escape from her grandparents household.

She counted those days obsessively.

Kat quickly became obsessed with numbers until the day she graduated. How many minutes were left in the hour? How many seconds were left before morning? How long until would it be until night fell? Then she would fall asleep and anxiously repeat the vicious cycle the drove her to write letters addressed to Whipstaff Manor if only to replace the minutes she spent daydreaming of those numbers that flashed inside her skull.

 _12:30 PM_

 _No, no now it's 1:00 AM_

 _5:00 AM now it's time for school._

 _Daytime rolled around then the afternoon and then the evening._

Morning would come quickly after Kat pleaded with her brain to shut itself off which was why she began taking up writing as a hobby. It was those letters she wrote that would serve as the bridge.

The decedents of Whipstaff Manor would send back all of their love.

They would send back their own messages that Kat would collect over the years that brought her a margin of peace of mind. That settled her nerves while she made empty promises to her grandparents to study hard and make an honest living.

So what if she lied.

Kat read their letters as though they were bedtime stories.

They lulled her asleep.

Those letters were enough before she would deal with surviving an adulthood that demanded to spend every ounce of her emotional and physical energies into a machine that would bring her father back from the dead.

So be it.


	6. Chapter 6

Ch.6

"Whys I always gotta be teh one, Kat?" Stretch said, quietly. "whys it gotta be like dis? Mcfadden's machine ain't one of dem projects he made for a fifth grade science fair. It wasn't put together using modeling clay. It wasn't one those projects that he completed within a weeks worth of time. You'd be doing dat fodder of yer's a big favor if you stayed away from his invention." he felt like he should be accusing himself when he realized James daughter mental health wasn't going to get any better. This was as good as Kat was ever gonna feel until she was able bring back her daddy.

Kat was eye's were closed.

She was resting in the comfort of her old bed.

She felt bitterly nostalgic.

"It doesn't matter," she said, softly. "so what if I grow old when all of this is over. Doesn't that mean I accomplished something with my life at the end of it all? Doesn't that mean we finally outwitted death?"

"We," Stretch said, he made an incredulous expression.

He remembered Kat being more abrasive.

"Come on throw a bitch fit," Stretch shouted. "get angry wit me! Tell me to piss off or sumthin' isn't that how you's used to act? Don't you remember?"

"I do it's just that times change," Kat said, she slowly opened her eyes then she exhaled a shaky breath. "I've spent a lot of time inside of my own head since I left the manor. I spent it reading and I spent it writing and I'm now I'm just kind of sick of everything."

"Sick?" Stretch repeated this specific word.

He meant to say sick in the head. What was stopping him from telling her that? He could probably give one good educated guess why he refrained himself. When James was still alive he told him to mind those types of words. Don't go stigmatizing mental illnesses. It's harder for people to reach out for help if you tell them those words.

She experienced a hardship. She lost her only safety net years ago.

Kat was homesick.

She was dealing with all types of sadness.

"I dunno," Kat told him, it deserved a thoughtful answer. She was trying to make sense of her feelings. Feelings she couldn't quite explain. She wasn't exactly happy when her dad told her to abandon the idea of fixing Mcfadden's machine. Her emotions were pretty hard to describe when she tried identify what was bothering her. She tried explaining them to Stretch but she couldn't find the right words.

Her mind kept drawing blanks.

"I get sick of people real fast," Kat said, in a harsh whisper. "I didn't want to make any new friends while I living in Florida. I hated being forced to be near other people just because all of my relatives thought he was isolating me. I mean, I used to complain about not making new friends all the time and they were right about that. I used to complain."

"Now you feel bad about all dat?" Stretch asked.

"No, not anymore," Kat said, hesitantly. Her eyes began darting around her old bedroom. She was wondering if Casper was ever going to make an unprecedented appearance. She made a few glances at the door and then back to Stretch again. "and most of them ignored me when I was still grieving over my dead parents. It sounded like most of them were happy after they found out my dad died. It was like a relief to them and for some reason they thought I was better off without him. I guess that's one of the reasons why I was so angry even though I never told them."

"It wuz one of dem silent rebellions, eh?" Stretch said.

Kat's complexion became pale upon making eye contact with Stretch. She remained quiet for a few minutes than whispered. "yeah, it was one of those," she admitted. "they didn't like the idea of parapsychology. They thought it was brainwashing me or something. But since my dad was dead I could do whatever I wanted without him. My dad couldn't pick the extension every time someone made a phone call. French fries would finally be a breakfast food. I could wear a T-shirt underneath my bathing suit but it's not the same."

It wasn't the same.

And she missed the overprotective dad she used to know.

She missed him sorely.

"I guess all they really wanted was a normal teenager."


	7. Chapter 7

Ch.7

Fixing the machine was probably more easier than trying to fix a person. It wasn't outside of the realm of possibility. It just wasn't the same, it's not like taking all the broken pieces that made up Kat. Those pieces are harder to put back together then any puzzle Stretch could ever solve. What else Stretch couldn't figure out was Kat's obsessive nature with restoring flesh and blood.

Death was apart of us.

It was like explaining the birds and the bees to a prepubescent teenager only backwards. What good was it gonna do for Kat's declining mental health when James experiences death the second time 'round? That invention was just gonna shatter her heart all over again. What good could possibly come from living when all that invention was ever gonna accomplish was another fatal emotional blow.

Humans are the fragile kind of sort.

 **We weren't built to last**.

As long as Kat remained inside Whipstaff Manor all that love she was yearning for years ago would never be in short supply. Just why? Why wasn't that information getting hammered into that thick skull of her's?

Hell, whatever Kat's feeling it's probably like one of dem iron lungs. You know, those artificial respirators when those kids who were infected with polio couldn't breathe for themselves.

That always tacks on a few more extra years.

"Yer better off hedging yer bets on dat machine," Stretch exclaimed, in a gruff voice "yer dad's not going anywhere," he made an expression. Someone who was tired and known the reasons why doubling a lifespan wasn't worth the effort. "we're better off dead but I do know **you** ain't all living. Wherever dat father of Casper's is he's still waiting for his boy to cross over and dat dumb kid still hasn't joined him yet."

Stretch imagined it was easier than saying "give it a rest" without adding much of his own observations about the afterlife.

"Mutability," Kat said, absent minded. "those big words that my dad used to use around me when I was younger."

"What the hell does that word even mean?" Stretch said, he sounded irritated.

"Alter something...make it different like when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly." Kat mumbled.

Whatever Stretch thought to himself change the subject.

"What's gonna happen when I die?" Kat asked. It was a fearful question.

It imposed an uncertainty.

"You'll probably become one of us," Stretch said with a snort. It was the most probable answer. "you still got all dat livin' to do it's not like yer in sum big hurry to join us or anything, right?"

"Right?" Stretch said, raising his voice a few decibels higher. "you mean, you do plan on living don't ya?"

Kat's response never came.

Stretch wasn't anticipating an answer either.

It was just one of those questions.

Stretch wanted to tell Kat how badly he blamed himself for letting her go. He was the head honcho around these parts. He could have easily pulled that kid away from Kat's so called relatives during that cold November morning.

But he chose not to.

He was afraid of telling Kat he was sorry about all the trouble. _I'm sorry **,**_ but he's worried he might have misread the situation. Stretch was worried Kat would push him away and this time he won't get her back.

"I'm-I'm not really sure," she says. "sometimes it really does sound pointless."

This conversation was circling the drain.

Words weren't doing much to patch up Kat. Stretch wasn't the best conversationalist but he trudges along. "it's a life, Kat. You don't have to enjoy it. Nobody has to like it. It's one of dem things. You're born and you have to deal wit it, sorts of things. James doesn't need dat second life. If he had it his way he'd give up being a ghost just so you'd be happy again."

"Would that mean," she says, shivering. "that would mean he'd be with me? Dad would still be with me?" her throat seizes up. Her breathe escapes her lungs and she can barely speak. "he'd still be here," she rasped. "is that what you meant?"

Stretch's eyes go soft. "'course, kid."


End file.
